Nitish asks what’s communal about anti-graft yatra

Nitish,who has been under attack from the RJD and Congress for aligning himself thus with a BJP cause,profusely thanked Advani for inviting him to flag off the yatra.

Advani,who was sharing the dais with Nitish after the 2009 Lok Sabha elections,was as fulsome in his praise,saying Nitish presented a unique example of good governance. “It is quite ironical that one CM (Lalu Prasad) had stopped his yatra in 1990 but another CM (Nitish) is flagging it off,” said Advani — repeating a point ironically made by Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi in his blog yesterday.

Elaborating on JP’s message of patriotism and faith in the democratic system,Advani recalled how he had once agreed to attend a Jan Sangh national executive and rebuffed a critic saying “if Jan Sangh is Fascist,so am I”.

Cautioning politicians against corruption,the central point of his yatra,Advani said: “As there is a huge deficit of credibility in politics,progressive Bihar under Nitish Kumar and (the BJP’s Deputy Chief Minister) Sushil Modi is a case in point in what political credibility can achieve.”

Nitish and Advani earlier set the tone by jointly addressing a big gathering. Obviously pleased at the jampacked Airport Maidan at Chhapra,Advani remarked that he had opened his yatra account well.

Nitish enumerated his own moves against corruption,saying the issue was the main theme during his 300-odd public meetings during the 2010 Assembly elections.

Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj said that while one disciple (Lalu) of JP had brought “bad name” to Bihar,two other disciples (Nitish and Sushil Modi) had worked wonders for the state. “If derailed Bihar can come back on tracks,so can the country,now reeling under corruption,” said Swaraj,drawing an enthusiastic response.

Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley said that if the Rs 64 crore Bofors scam had changed government,“what can one say about Rs 1,76,000 crore 2G spectrum scam under the UPA regime?”.

BJP workers and supporters lined up on either side of the road as Advani climbed onto his “rath” for the journey from Chhapra to Patna. There was a huge roar every time Advani rose to the top of the bus converted into a rath on a special lift.